On the Isle of Man and in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland you can take out ‘seagull insurance’ when you’re eating at a food outlet. Sounds strange? This is because seagulls have become enormous pests to paying customers at The Cheesy Toast Shack, a takeaway in St Andrews and also at Hawkins BBQ a food truck on the Isle of Man.
“Seagull insurance” works like this: you pay for a £1 insurance policy to the cafe owner and the insurance allows customers who have their burgers and fries snapped up by birds to claim a free meal. Until now these outlets have often replaced the meal anyway free of charge but with the insurance policy, they can recoup some of their losses. That’s my interpretation.
Gulls really have become a nuisance to customers and restaurant owners (loss of income) but I think we have to put the problem down to humans! That might sound like an anti-human statement but at heart I think it is entirely true.
Natural resources
Firstly, one factor why seagulls like to steal food from paying customers at food outlets is because of the depletion of natural food sources due to human overfishing. They don’t have the fish out at sea to eat so they come into the coast, to dry land, to feed more easily or to feed at all.
Overfishing by humans has significantly reduced fish populations in many areas which are a primary source for seagulls and other seabirds. As a result, arguably, seagulls may struggle to find enough food in their natural environment. This might push them to seek alternative food sources including human food outside of cafés.
Feeding habits
Seagulls are arguably forced to adapt and change their feeding habits. They may start relying on human provided food. They might scavenge for food or take the food directly out of the hands of a feeding human at a café.
Human activities impact the marine ecosystem and it is unsurprising that they lead to changes in seagull behaviour which have become so irritating to people.
Oppotunistic feeders
Other reasons why seagulls steal food from people is because they are opportunistic feeders. They take advantage of any available food source. We can expect this. It’s about survival. And if a person eats outdoors and the seagull sees food on the table, they might take it but they do so at a risk of injury because there have been occasions when people have struck back at seagulls and harmed or killed them.
That, by the way, would be a breach of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and a crime. Also, seagulls are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 which makes it illegal to intentionally kill, injure, or take any wild bird or interfere with its nest or eggs. If someone harms a seagull, they could potentially face a criminal prosecution leading to a fire or in extreme cases imprisonment.
Another reason why seagulls eat human food is because of a shifting feeding habits as mentioned above. It might not only be overfishing; it could be pollution in the seas. The seas are heavily polluted nowadays and I have seen a picture of a seagull feeding their chicks with plastic particles. A most disturbing image.
And of course, a seagull could have become accustomed to humans eating by the seaside so what do you expect? There is the food in plain sight. Why leave it? They naturally take it if they can.
And in the wild there is competition for food. Seagulls compete with each other and other animals for food. In stealing food directly from people, they bypass some competition although of course seagulls compete with each other when stealing food!
And there is a lack of predators in the urban environment. Or they face fewer natural predators in that environment which allows them to take more risks like approaching humans closely. This can lead to a boldness in their behaviour if they survive the encounter.
And finally, seagulls are intelligent birds. They can learn from experience. Once they’ve successfully stolen food from a person, they are likely to repeat it for obvious reasons.
